Tag Appalachian Trail

Tackling the Appalachian Trail (sort of)

Reg Spittle 2 Comments

While in the eastern U.S., Sue and I just had to walk the Appalachian Trail. Not all 2,135 miles of it and not even the 544 miles of the AT that runs through Virginia.

The Massie Gap Trail in Grayson Highlands State Park took us up to the AT, where we witnessed some of the best views of the entire iconic trail, according to our state parks guide. And a rhododendron forest that hadn’t bloomed despite it being late April. There was not a wild pony in sight either, despite warnings not to feed them.

We saw a couple of northbound thru hikers with medium-sized backpacks, but they sped by too quickly for us to ask how far they were going. Then we came to a group of 15 or so adults and teen-agers laden with huge backpacks.

“You must be going a long way,” Sue asked them. ”Yep,” said a woman leading the group. “We’re out for three days!”

We are proud to say we walked the Appalachian Trail, at least a couple miles of it in southwestern Virginia.

At 21, They Gambled Against the Odds

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Impossible? Not for Jackson Parell and Sammy Potter.

Jackson Parell and Sammy Potter at the Appalachian Trail terminus.

In 2021, the twenty-one-year-olds became the youngest to complete thru-hiking’s triple crown during a calendar year. They are the eleventh and twelfth hikers to have conquered the Appalachian Trail, the Continental Divide Trail, and the Pacific Crest Trail in the same year.

They went through 12 pair of shoes each as they climbed and descended more than a million feet in elevation over 295 days.

Thanks to Backpacker, you can hear them describe the highs and lows of their nearly 8,000-mile journey on the podcast series Impossible Odds. Click on the link to get to know the pair of Stanford students, who are back at school—as roommates.